Day One Hundred Sixteen: Something-for-Everyone Meringue Cake

Saturday was a lazy day for my family.  Having been on vacation, then sick, then with sick kiddos, we were all wiped out.  We stayed at home all day.

As I was perusing MarthaStewart.com, my daughter caught sight of Martha's Meringue-Frosted Cake with Raspberry filling.  With nothing else on our plate, I decided we should make this little beauty.

This cake is a layered cake.  You start by baking two separate cakes, layering them by separating them with raspberry filling.  This is much simpler than baking one cake and cutting it evenly in half.  Trust me.

In fact, my layers looked so nice, my husband commented on my improving skills.  (He was there when I cut my daughter's birthday cake to shreds, trying to make it even.)  I confessed to my new methods, but still felt pretty smug with my new talents.  :easily impressed:

The cake is iced with a meringue topping.  After it sits in a very hot oven for a couple of minutes, the meringue is crisp and sweet.  Perfect foil to the tart raspberry center.    

As much as the kids were excited about this cake, I found I could make neither of them happy.  My son would only eat the meringue, the raspberry filling being too tart for his tastes.  My daughter would only eat the cake and filling.  She's not much for crusts. I felt like that nursery rhyme about Jack Sprat:

Jack Sprat could eat no fat
His wife could eat no lean.
And so between them both, you see,
They licked the platter clean.

Well, almost clean. My husband cut the cake in half and ate it in one sitting.

I'm not joking.